Posted by Nancy Mazonson

Starting in November, the Parkinson's Family Support program will take its Parkinson's Dance program to Cambridge. It will be hosted by the José Mateo Ballet Theatre at its home, the National Historic Landmark Old Cambridge Baptist Church, located in Harvard Square. Scott Fraser, managing director of José Mateo Ballet Theatre, remarked, "For 25 years, José Mateo Ballet Theatre has strived to make its programs available to all members of the community. This exciting partnership with Jewish Family & Children's Service will allow Ballet Theatre to take a next step in making the benefits of dance available to the broader community."

The five-class series is modeled after Dance for PD®, a collaborative program of the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. The dance program is intended to engage the participants' minds and bodies, and create an enjoyable, social environment that emphasizes dancing, which can be therapeutic. Learning from skilled dance instructors inspires participants to recapture grace, while guided improvisation fosters creativity and experimentation with movement. In fact, participants, who have a clinical movement disorder, find that they can actually move freely during the two-hour class and often say they even forget they have Parkinson's during that time.

The first class of the series will be a master class led by JF&CS instructor, Art Sullivan, and David Leventhal. David is a Newton native and former José Mateo Ballet Theatre company dancer, who is currently the program manager and founding teacher of the Dance for PD® at the Mark Morris Dance Group in New York City.

Nancy Mazonson, director of Parkinson's Family Support, says, "I've been incredibly moved by the overwhelming response to our dance programming. It is an honor to be partnering with the renowned José Mateo Ballet Theatre so that many more people can participate in and benefit from this innovative program."

To register for Parkinson's Dance, contact Art Sullivan at asullivan@jfcsboston.org or 781-693-1336.

Nancy Mazonson has coordinated JF&CS Parkinson's Family Support since its inception in September 2006. The program is a leading resource in the Boston area with its unique programs, including Parkinson's Dance, Adult Child and Care Partner support groups, and Tremble Clefs choral singing group. Prior to her work at JF&CS, Nancy worked extensively in inpatient and community-based rehabilitation settings, specializing in helping people with degenerative neurological conditions.